ROOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

The NFL earth shifted on its axis Sunday afternoon. The consensus best team in the NFC was beaten at home 30-22 by the consensus last year was a fluke team. The San Francisco 49ers beat Green Bay in every phase of the game and only a barbarous gaffe by the referees kept this contest as close as it turned out to be.

Exorcising the ghosts of draft picks past and the twenty-two year ghosts of Lambeau Field, Alex Smith out played Aaron Rodgers in leading the 49ers to victory. The offseason acquistions of Perrish Cox, Mario Manningham, and Randy Moss all contributed to the win. With Cox added to the secondary, along with 2011 draft pick Chris Culliver, the 49ers now have four solid CBs to contain the wild and wooly four receiver sets favored by the gunslinger offenses such as Green Bay. And with Moss and Manningham added to the WR mix, the extremely rare sight of 49er receivers running free and clear in an opponent’s secondary magically and mercifully appeared at last.

Perhaps fittingly on this break through day, Smith put his name at the top of the franchise record book for most consecutive passes without an interception, eclipsing the title holder Steve Young and the man in third place, Joe Montana. The only national expert who foresaw this victory was Terry “Give Me an A” Bradshaw, the reigning goof ball of the NFL pundit scene. Some might throw Deion Sanders into that mix, but he’s more of a pin headed huckster than goof ball.

The 49er offense was a mystery heading into this game, but Sunday it nonchalantly put up 30 points and could have had more if not for Jim Harbaugh switching to the four minute prevent offense in the 4th quarter. Jeez, Jim. Will you cut that shit out already?

The defense, a worry by those who would worry, had not played well in the exhibition season, and the history of both the recent years of this franchise and the career of Vic Fangio hinted that a regression was in order this year. Oh, no, Nanette! Not on this glorious Wisconsin Sunday afternoon.

With the Giants and Saints both getting beat, along with the Packers, it’s impossible not to view the 49ers as the team to beat in the NFC.

And they looked the part Sunday. In addition to the precise passing of Smith, Frank Gore put up 112 yards rushing, and the team totaled 186 yards on the ground. Green Bay, in contrast, totaled 45 yards rushing, 27 of which were by Rodgers’ scrambles. Cedric Benson rushed 9 times for 18 yards. Egads, gents. And that was against our nickel defense!

Kyle Williams exorcised his own ghosts, too, turning in a flawless performance as the punt returner. It was his 20 yard punt return and the Harbaughian insertion of Colin “Crazy Legs” Kaepernick for a 17 yard bolt up the middle that set the stage for David Akers record tying 63 yard precisely to the crossbar field goal to end the first half.

This team has no weaknesses. They are scary good. Whatever worries had boiled to the surface of the blogorama during the lack luster exhibition season were quickly shooed away by this impressive debut game. It stands to reason the team will only get better as the season unfolds. That’s a frightening thought. For others. For us, it’s the stuff of happy, happy Sundays and sweet, sweet dreams.

From NFL website
Alex Smith was essentially flawless. Frank Gore ran wild through the Packers defense. Late in the Green Bay Packers’ loss to the San Francisco 49ers, we thought the Packers were lucky just to be in the game.

The Packers feel differently.

“We beat ourselves. They really didn’t beat us,” cornerback Jarrett Bush said after the game, via the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “We just have to hunker down and make sure we’re gap sound and get on the same page. Obviously, small things being miscommunicated on the field become big things, so they exploited us and that’s what happened.”

Oh boy. If any of this sounds familiar, let’s replay some comments from Clay Matthews this offseason about Green Bay’s playoff loss to the New York Giants.

One thing I would junk is having
Tukuafu as the Fullback. He had 2 false starts and I think it’s a gimmick and limits wht you can do.
If Bruce Miller is your FB he’ll get the job done. Those false starts are devastating when your close to the goal line.
Two other guys that didn’t have
spectacular games were Staley and Delanie Walker. Walker almost cost us dearly missing a pass and tipping it up. Staley looked overmatched against Matthews and was holding him half the time.

A positive from the game was Boone passed his first test starting at RG.
He wasn’t mentioned which is a good thing for an Olineman.
Chilo Rachal would get called for false starts or holding.
Looks like we have a RG.

Neither Boone nor Anthony Davis got their names mentioned that I recall. And that is a very encouraging thing. I have never really bought Staley as a Pro Bowl tackle – good, okay, but not elite. He has always had his lapses. He is popular because he is articulate in interviews, and a good union man in the eyes of the players.

Alex Smith had his best game ever in a 49er uniform – even better than the Saints game last year – because it was consistent. He played very well from whistle to gun, with no major errors. He may not be quite the QB Rodgers is – but the gap between Alex and the Packers’ defense was huge yesterday, while the gap between Rodgers and ours was ephemeral. He made some plays, but so did we.

Alex sure did a heckuva Bart Starr impersonation on Lambeau Field yesterday.
Jim Schwartz has got to be pissing in his pants about now. Ten less seconds and the Lambs would’ve beat him yesterday.
Next stop, Candlestick. All aboard!

Came away from the game injury free except for Staley’s broken nose. Staley might start wearing a face shield on his helmet.
Tom Brady also broke his nose yesterday.
When Gore scored I thought he was
the victim of a late hit that wasn’t called as he had already
in the endzone and got smacked about a second later.

I see no difference between Vernon Davis’ TD celebration
last year of stepping up on a camera platform and the “Lambeau
Leap”. The NFL rules need to be consistent because the intent of both are the same.
Why should the Packers be allowed to celebrate just because it’s Lambeau Field? It cost the Niners 15 yards last year in a playoff game.

One of the sacks on Staley was because Alex was looking to his 2nd and 3rd reads. I’d call it a coverage sack. Aikmann said he could have stepped into the pocket but it had almost collapsed from the front. The Packers do have a good pass rush.

Yesterday showed how much the Niner D has advanced under Harbauigh and Fangio.
Two years ago Rodgers would move
his offense downfield in 15-25 yard chunks and score in 2 mins.
The way to beat the Packers, Aints and Pats is to keep their
offense on the sidelines and eat clock. They want to get into a shootout because they have superior offensive firepower.
Green Bay is not as good as adverstised because they have no running game and a suspect defense.
Watch this week to see if the Bears learned from how the Gnats and Niners approached the game.

Yeah, Green bay is a one-trick pony. It’s a hell of a trick, mind you: stopping Rodgers is NOT trivial. We played him about as well as is physically possible, and they still had 300 yards passing and 22 points (15 offensively). So you can contain him, but not completely shut him out – and that is where Alex efficiently ringing up 30 for us won the game.

Yeah you take a look at the TD drives by SF of 92 and 88 yards (and 23 on the INT), and you have to be impressed. The 3rd down conversion rate wasn’t all that good (2-9), but on those drives, they didn’t FACE any 3rd downs.
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One spot appeared to be lame on the 3rd and 2 for Gore, but otherwise, the offense did a good job of driving with the ball and controlling the clock (33:00 to 27:00)
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Getting Jacobs for short yardage should help, but only look at the 15 passes completed to WRs this game to see where the offensive improvement came from.

I agree skeebs, it looks like we will continue to get better. This is good, this is really good.
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There was a series earlier in the game when GB had the ball and we used the prevent and it worked, they had to punt. However, fool me once ok, they were ready for it the next time we tried that crap and even though some time went off the clock we paid dearly.
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I truly hate the prevent and think it should only be used if you have a 14 point lead or over with less than 2 min.
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Hey rob, u might have just called it.

Went 3, Reno. 3%#$. It wasn’t the 3-1-7 it was a variation on the Tampa 2.
It doesn’t work against a QB like Aaron Rodgers. Never did, never will. You have to pressure to get in his face. D-line like you know better than anybody. Blitz. Don’t let him sit in the pocket and get comfortable.

I didn’t say I was a fan of it, I just suggested it was not prevent. It worked at the end of the half, they tried it again, it didn’t work the 2nd time, they came out of it. I don’t have a problem using it now and then as a change of looks. We used it last year and I’m sure it will be used a lot this year with all the Spread teams on our schedule.

No, we didn’t cover anything on that drive. Rodgers went 6-6 82 yards, TD. Sure, it wasnt a true prevent, but it was a cover defense. safeties deeper than normal, 8 guys in coverage.
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I really don’t like the 3-1-7 because it puts Willis on the sideline. And RTF it was a 3-1-7. 3 down linemen, 1 LB (Bowman), and 7 DBs.
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They used it to start the last drive, but bailed on it when GB got to their 45. Rodgers scrambled on one play, then they artarted getting in.
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The point being they get shredded by any QB with that kind of time.

Let the hype begin:………….. Lions cornerback Chris Houston risked riling up Randy Moss on Monday, in advance of Detroit’s trip to San Francisco. According to Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News, Houston said Monday that Moss is a “possession receiver.” Houston added that he doesn’t think Moss can “take the top off” the defense.

Given Detroit’s well-documented problems in the defensive secondary, it’s not the smartest thing Houston ever has said. With Moss snaring a touchdown pass in the 49ers’ Week One win over the Packers, Houston shouldn’t give Moss any extra reason to try even harder to make an impact.

After all, Moss once racked up three touchdowns against the Lions after he was supplied external motivation. And that motivation didn’t even come from the Lions; it came from ESPN’s Merril Hoge, who accused Moss of taking plays off.

Would like to see Anthony and Alex blow him too.
Maybe Leonard can get in for some pokes too.
Him that clown from every direction.
He’ll be conscious of the wham blocks this time around.
Just blow him up, anyway, anyhow.

The Onion is stealing my stuff. Try beating off a pack of Coyotes while they are getting ready to eat your dogs.
No UFOs, but they will eat your dogs. It’s OK. They eat the rattlers for breakfast. Just gotta letta know you and the dogs are ready are a fight.

What a great game. We ended one streak against GB and started another. Let’s hope it lasts as long as the one that ended.

Random observations:

OL played well but Staley looked terrible against Matthews. Terrible.

Smith played very well. He is not going to take risks unless he has to. He didn’t have to. Accuracy was good. His roll out to the right and little toss to Miller made me jump out of my seat.

Crabtree caught everything catchable that came near him.

We have wide receivers (more than one). Praise be to the baby jesus.

I usually don’t use this word to describe a kicker, but David Akers is a stud.

Sorry Berger, but the replacement refs ARE worse. I actually feel sorry for them. Clearly the sport is hard enough to officiate even if you have been doing it for years. It’s clearly harder for these guys.

I was REALLY glad that Fangio mixed it up after the easy drive for GB’s last score. The coaching was very good this game. My only complaint now, or ever, is when coaching gets too conservative. I’m still a go for the juggler advocate.

Glad to be very wrong about my prediction. Both sides of the ball played better in game one than I thought they would. we’re going to stuff the Lionesses. 33-17.

The thing about the replacement refs is they aren’t calling ticky tacky PI plays. They aren’t calling inadvertent hits on QBs (unless they are obvious). SOME of this helps the flow of the game. But as we just saw, the flip side of this is horrendous calls that could affect the outcome of games.
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The old refs call anything remotely close on PI plays. And they often get them wrong as a WR is pushing off, yet the DB gets called. There is still no hard and fast rule as to what gets called and why. But the worst was the AZ game. The refs took 15 minutes to try and figure out just how many timeouts Seattle had used. They ended up giving Sea a 4th timeout and Sea on the doorstep to win the game. They didn’t, but there would have been a HUGE outcry if it had.
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The pick up of the illegal block flag in the Niner game also could have turned that game to GB’s favor. That REALLY pissed me off after CJ Spillman was called for an illegal block WHEN HE WASN’T A BLOCKER, and A Smith gets called for pulling his helmet off after getting kicked in the facemask.
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I think all 3 of those calls go differently if the regular refs are in there. But then again, there would likely have been 2 or 3 more PI calls, and a couple hits-to-the-QB calls. I don;t know how this plays out, mainly because the regular refs screw things up as well, but not like this. The replacements WILL affect the outcome of a game. And it will be soon.

Chuck I grant that the pro refs suck at PI. That’s been going on for a long, long time. The protect-the-qb-at-all-costs rules are more recent and it is hard to get used to. But these guys were blowing calls right and left that were no brainers. They also completely missed on some obvious false starts. They would have been against the niners, but I hate to see shitty calls, always.

THe big difference with replacement refs is there are guys from the league office in the pressbox that can overrule a call. Anonymous and generally faceless league officials.
The referee used to be the impartial official that would go under the hood of a video replay
and judge a call. That doesn’t seem to be the case with replacement officials and eventually it come come to feeling games are fixed with the usual East Coast bias.
I heard there was less money being bet on the NFL in Vegas
because gamblers don’t like the wild card factor of the scab officials.

I was listening to Shannon Sharpe a year ago analyse why the Jets went from two-years running AFC runners-up to dismal last year.
He mentioned a player who Rex cut last year who wasn’t in the locker room for last season.
He said Rex is a great coach but he’s not a locker room guy.
Tim Tebow is a miserable passer but he’s a locker room guy.
Can I change my AFC picks? Broncs, Ravens, and Jets.

Pat Kirwan (SiriusXM NFL Radio/CBSSports.com, 2) – Go on the road and hold the Packers to 22 points and rush for 186 yards. This is one difficult team to beat and Alex Smith is an efficient passer right now.
John Lynch (Fox Sports, 2) – Any ?’s the 49er’s were the “real deal” were answered in Week 1 with a sound defeat of the Packers in Lambeau. These guys are for real!

Alex Marvez (Foxsports.com, 2) – I wrote last week that the 49ers can stake legitimate claim to being the NFC’s top team if they won in Green Bay. Done deal.

Dan Pompei (Chicago Tribune, 1) – People don’t want to believe this team can be this good with Alex Smith at quarterback. Believe it.

I’ve never seen so much love for the old refs everybody used to disdain. All that experience and they still sucked. When does one cut bait and start over. It seemed to clean up the ref issues in baseball when they let the old ones go. Sure it took a couple of months of OTJ training, but it was worth it in the end.

We remember that eleven years ago today nearly three thousand of our fellow Americans were killed by evil men. Every year on the anniversary of 9-11, we read out the names of those who died and comfort their families, and at military recruiting centers throughout the country, young men and women choose this day to enlist to serve their fellow Americans and ensure that something like this never happens again. While some try to move on with their lives and let the tragedy of that day recede in their memories, our men and women in uniform remain ever vigilant for us.

Today, let’s take time to remember the victims of September 11. Let’s say a prayer for their families. Let’s comfort their children left behind. And let’s also remember our men and women in uniform who enlist to protect us from tragedies like this. Let’s remember that American troops are still fighting in Afghanistan now, and they’re dying this year at an average of one a day. Let’s never forget the heavy price they pay to keep us free

My young Marine neighbor is being deployed at the end of the month.
Senseless waste of time and lives over there.
Hope we end this garbage war ASAP.
Proud of the Men and Women who are doing it for us however.
I lost 3 friends in The WTC, 1 who survived. Life is short, do something responsible everyday.
Tomorrow is promised to no one.

That was my uncle, Sergeant Major Majors of the United States Marine Corp, on whom the movie was partially based.
NoFear was only a few miles away. My Unc took his Purple Hearts and DI’d at Parris Island. I think you’ve seen that movie, too.
We will NEVER FORGET, NoFear.
You served with my uncle.

My uncle was stupider than a can of bricks, Chuck.
My Dad and I and Dad’s brother Don could fly rings rings around him on a bad day.
I’ve had good friends in the Corps,even though my uncle was a jarhead. Just like to mess with ’em sometimes.

My neighbor is an only Son.
Kid joined the USMC because his Dad was Navy and he felt he too needed to Serve.
I’m proud of his commitment to the rest of us but, I’m concerned for his health and welfare first and foremost.
To those that Serve, it’s a 24×7 struggle to survive.
Proud to be an American because of people like him.

The objective was to destroy the ability of Al Qaeda to use the Taliban in Afghanistan to provide a base for attacks on the US. And to get Osama and get some justice for 9/11.

We did that.

At this point, we are still there, trying to prop up Karzai’s kleptocracy, because American politicians of both parties fear being embarrassed by the eventual outcome there – which is likely a return of the Taliban to power.

The thing is, we need to live in the world as it is, not as we wish it was. Afghanistan is never going to suddenly become like American. The bluebird of happiness is not going to fly up anyone’s butt here. Sometimes a partial victory, or short term success, is all you can realistically achieve.

We need to accept that American power, while considerable, has its limits, and take the partial victory. Accepting that Utopia remains out of reach. And stop this Fool’s Errand of Nation Building, which has never really worked in a society like theirs.

Building a better Afghanistan is up to the Afghanis. For our part, we simply need to make it clear to everyone that we don’t give a shit what you believe or how you govern yourselves – but try to hurt our people again, and we’ll make you wish you had never been born. Then, leave. Let the Afghanis make their own destiny.

I agree. Always honor the brave that serve the country to allow us to have the freedoms we enjoy.
It pisses me off the criticism of the timeline for leaving Afghanistan. You just don’t sneak
out a force of 80K troops. It is naive for the critics to think the enemy won’t notice when your drawing down.
The stupidity of going into Afghanistan/Iraq was not being prepared and properly equipping the troops. Humvees without armor
to withstand roadside bombs and
proper body armor for the troops were inexcusable.
When we leave Afghanistan in 2014
the war would have lasted 13 years
which would be longer than World War I & II combined.

We had convinced ourselves by 2001 that in the Shiny New World Order, wars would be rare, and that the Forces of Good and Righteousness would just push buttons at 20,000 feet and vanquish the Evil Doers.

The Taliban and AQ and insurgents in Iraq said, “To hell with that,” and decided not to fight our kind of war.

It’s a truism that we always prepare for the last war, and find ourselves unready for the next. Because whatever you prepare for, your enemy is going to try to exploit whatever you didn’t. Like in football, the other team is trying to win, too.

The problem in my view is the American instinct for a perfect solution. In the real world, sometimes you have to settle for what is achievable. And the deeper you get in, the more impulse there is to throw good money after bad, trying to *somehow* get that perfect solution.

AQ is badly degraded. Bin Laden is dead. The Afghanis have had a chance to build a better future, whether they seize that or not. All that is good enough for me.

Bismarck once said, “The whole of the Balkans is not worth the life of one Pomeranian gardener.”

At this point, the whole of Afghanistan, to me anyway, is not worth the life of one more good American kid.

We are leaving Afghanistan the same as we found them 11 years ago. Their #1 export is narcotics
and that is their economy as they have few natural resources or industry.
Better to build bridges and roads in the US rather than in a country where they’ll blow it up a few days after completion.
We’re just pissing money away there.

I didn’t write that. Just my take on history. Make Sure they don’t sneak those nukes over the Khyber pass from Pakistanon our way out.
If you stay, the Pakis will do it.
(My tax money supports the Pakis, Reno are you hearing me? Lots and lots of money went to Dick Cheney and Chalabi) while they were screwing you and me into yet another war.

The Taliban are a product of the CIA. We used to support them with weapons to fight the Soviets.
They turned those weapons on us because we invaded their country.
The Taliban and AQ are seperate
but the Neocons lumped them together to justify the inveasion.
The US is only 250 years old.
What has been going on in Afghanistan and Iraq has a history Before Christ.
Cheyney and Neocons were wrong that the Iraqis would greet us as “liberators” instaed of invaders.
Watch out for Mitt. Many of his advisors are Neocons. They will prey once again on US fears to advance their agenda. Halliburton needs wars to make money .

Do you really want to make this political? I was agreeing when I went to bed, I’m not now.

I know why we went in and I agreed with that. What I don’t understand is why we are still there. I see the Dems are still blaming Bush for everything they can. Some things will never change.

The Iraq war made a lot of sense to me. We had an objective and it made sense, and we achieved that objective. It did take longer than expected but in the end it was mission accomplished. Democracies tend to be peaceful. Having a peaceful democracy in a strategic part of the terrorist world is a major plus for us. The Iraqi people wanted that and we helped them get that. The Afghan war is not winnable because the people there are not interested in what we are trying to achieve. They are so used to their nomadic lifestyle and being governed by war lords thy have no concept of what a democracy is. For that reason we need to get out.

We went in to put whipping on AQ and they were intertwined with the Taliban. If a stated reason to stay made sense I would possibly be in favor of staying. The best possible reason I can think of is maybe for the rights of women. But would a conflict in Afghanistan really solve that. No. With the info I have I say get out.

Iraq was a clusterf*ck nightmare of epic proportions. Iraq is a peaceful democracy? Welcome to fantasy island, Bergs. Listen to what Cheney said in 1994 about taking out Sadam Hussein. It is EXACTLY what happened there. 9/11 had NOTHING TO do with Iraq or Saddam’s regime, and we had no business being the aggressors there.
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If Iraq is the way to go, I guess Iran is next. You ready to commit 500,000 troops to do battle in Iran?

Gee, where’d that deficit come from? Hmmmm, could it be Bush cutting taxes and waging war in 2 countries? Both the wars were unfunded.
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Never in the history of our country did we cut taxes and go to war. And Bush did it twice. Reagan realized he had to raise taxes to try and bankrupt the Soviets in the arms race. So he did.